This was another cocktail that really impressed me. Looking at the ingredients I was a bit skeptical to begin with. I mean you’re intentionally combining lemon juice and cream and expecting the result to be good. That’s just not something that usually fits in my world view. Well, I should say my previous world view. You see, the Ramos Gin Fizz is fantastic. The flavor is very unique with the lemon and gin flavors combining surprisingly well with the richness of the cream. The egg white adds really nice mouth feel and foam that is flavorful and tasty unto itself. This cocktail would really be a great addition to a brunch menu which isn’t really something new. That’s one of the suggested applications by a number of folks.

One of the interesting things I noted as I mixed this cocktail for the first time is that the foam is indistinguishable from the liquid portion of the drink. It really creates a very unique look for the cocktail.

So, what advice can I offer as you go to mix one of these for yourself? Well, first, make sure you use plenty of ice. The first one I mixed I only used 4 cubes of ice. The drink never got as cold as I would like as was evidenced by the lack of frost on my shaker. In addition there was a lot more melt than I would like. From that point on I used as much ice as I could reasonably fit, about 6 cubes in my case. Next, make sure you either combine your ingredients very quickly or, if you’re slow like me, put the cream and egg white in one half and everything else in the other until you’re ready to shake. If you don’t do this you run the risk of having your cream curdle. Certainly not optimal.

I tried a couple other recipes, both nearly identical to the Joy of Mixology recipe with one twist, an increase in the simple syrup to one full ounce. I found the resulting cocktail was too sweet with that much sugar and stuck with the 1/2 ounce as my standard. I never did get around to trying the blender option for creating the foam but also found I didn’t really need it. I didn’t even end up needing to do a dry shake. I simply loaded up with ice and shook for 1-2 minutes and got a wonderful foamy result. What shaking for 15 minutes will get you I can’t say. But then again, I don’t have a line of shaker boys to supplement my tired arms.

Finally, the choice of gin for this cocktail can run the board. As I mentioned in my review I used Beefeater all week and it worked wonderfully. However, if you’re looking for something with a bit less juniper hit try a more citrus forward gin like Bombay Sapphire. Lastly you’re certainly welcome to try a very juniper heavy gin in this (eg Tanqueray), however, I think the citrus notes blend really well with the lemon juice and are thus your best choice.

Ben Sandroff won the 2008 St Germain cockail contest by adding some of that to a Ramos (calling it a Sureau Fizz). It’s an addition worth trying sometime. To balance the extra sweetness with something bitter, sometimes I sub tonic or dry champagne for the club soda.

I’ve heard great things about the Sureau Fizz but haven’t taken the time to mix one up as yet. Love the idea of tonic or champagne subbed for club soda. Definitely going to have to give that a go as well.

[…] to get them off my mind since. It is, by far, my favorite gin drink at the moment. Reese, over at Cocktail Hacker did a great write-up of the RG Fizz recently, with delicious-looking photos, so check him […]